Chapter 1
- (Naming day; a pig and a dog; "Hart of the Wood"; a night with Lorna)
- A hunting expedition coincides with 12-year-old Riddley's initiation into manhood. A traditional story tells us the basics of how the world got the way it is, and we meet Lorna, the village priestess and Riddley's lover.
- dedication: "to Wieland"
Wieland is the youngest of Russell Hoban's children. In a coincidence that is appropriate to this novel, Wieland (Wayland, Weland, Volundr) in Germanic myth was a demigod and master metalworker, who forged the sword of Siegfried.
- Epigram from the Gospel of Thomas. "Jesus has said: Blessed is the lion that the man will devour, and the lion will become man. And loathsome is the man that the lion will devour, and the lion will become man."
One of the most famous sayings from the Gnostic Gospels, expressing a typically paradoxical view of man's higher nature. Several events in this novel invite us to consider the meaning of devouring or being devoured. Lions themselves do not appear in the Anglocentric world of Riddley Walker, but are prominent in Middle Eastern mythology—and also in Russell Hoban's novels, particularly The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz and Pilgermann.
No dates are explicitly given in the story, but Riddley mentions later that his birthday is "2nd Ful" or the second full moon of the year. Considering the parallels between Riddley's society and ancient Britain, David Cowart speculates that they may date the new year from November as the early Celts did, which would place us near the end of December. BW Riddley mentions later that "Shorsday" (shortest day—the winter solstice, usually around December 21 in the Northern hemisphere) has already come and gone.
- (1:2) "Bundel Downs"
See Places.
Variations on the word "required" will recur throughout the book, usually associated with fate and suffering.
- (1:29) "stumps pink and red ... Aulder trees in there and chard coal berners in amongst them working ther harts. You cud see 1 of them in there with his red jumper what they all ways wear"
The alder tree is traditionally associated with the human body because of its red sap. It burns poorly but is favored for charcoal. Alders figure greatly in the story of Bran.
The existence of a special guild of charcoal burners implies that technical skills are few and far between. Harts in this case means hearths or ovens (charcoal is made by burning wood in a particular way) but, as Riddley explains in the following story, can also mean hearts.
- (2:3) "Making chard coal for the iron reddy at Widders Dump"
Charcoal produces the high temperatures needed for smelting iron. The use of reddy is unclear here (some readers see it as "the iron [that is] ready at Widders Dump") but from later context it seems that the iron reddy is a place where iron is both heated red and made ready—i.e. a forge. (RH concurs: "The iron reddy is a smelter where old iron is melted down to make it ready for new uses.")
Widders Dump: See Places.
This is the first of six stories recited in the course of the book.
- (2:8) "Eusa Story"
The Eusa Story is told in Chapter 6.
Though ominously capitalized phrases have long been a science-fiction/fantasy cliché, Hoban uses them sparingly in this book, and always for mythic or intangible terms.
Note that "everyone knows" not only is a useful device for introducing things that the reader does not know, but also conveys the ritual atmosphere of storytelling in an oral tradition, where familiar characters are often introduced with similar reminders.A 1 3 4 a A 1 3 4 b A 1 3 28 A 1 4 18 A 1 4 20 A 1 4 27 A 1 4 31 A 1 5 2 a A 1 5 2 b A 1 5 13 A 1 5 18 A 1 5 31